Mr Boateng, 22, started his footballing career with Crystal Palace before playing for both Sutton United and Carshalton Athletic.

Mr Adelakun, 22, also began his career with Palace and was a regular for Carshalton Athletic last season.

And Mr Swaibu played with the pair for Brighton-based Whitehawk FC last year.

The three men are all charged with bribery while Mr Sankaran and Mr Ganeshan are charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery.

Michael Boateng playing for Sutton United

In the first day of the trial yesterday, the court heard the three players worked with the businessmen to affect the results of games in the Conference South - the league in which they played - in order to secure betting returns.